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Friday, October 17, 2008

Pepsi For A Rape Opportunity

Well there it is, Pepsi's latest ad campaign. What exec looked at this and thought gee what a great idea, trading a Pepsi for the opportunity to rape an unconscious woman.

When I first came across this via theF WORD, something in me felt so incredibly sad. It is not because I have a connection to Pepsi, in fact I don't even drink the stuff. The daily ugliness that women are subjected to is beyond appalling. It's bad enough that in real life women are beaten, raped, verbally abused and murdered without seeing advertising like this that normalizes this behaviour.

I am constantly reading descriptions of feminists as angry women, but when daily things like this are seen as just the cost of doing business, how can anger not be a legitimate result? This woman is as psychically different from me as night and day and yet due to patriarchy we are subject to the same fate; a life concerned about the impacts of male violence and aggression.

Ads like this say that women's lives aren't worth anything. Clearly she is need of aid and yet the men are so busy negotiating an opportunity to abuse her, this is over looked. This is not some cheap fantasy, it happens everyday and to use the pain that this kind of abuse causes as a marketing tactic signals that Pepsi is a company without any compassion.

Clearly they never thought of the effect that this would have on innocent women who have been victims of sexual assault coming across this advertisement. Obviously the execs believe that to women, rape and violence are part of our lives; and therefore we should embrace it. We may all be under the threat of rape, but that does not mean that we support patriarchy in perpetuating what it believes is its right to women's bodies. This kind of campaigning needs to stop.

I am sickened and heartbroken to see this today. If anyone has any contact information for Pepsi please leave it in the comment section. They need to be made aware that a woman's life is worth something. Violence against us is not a laughing matter, it is painful and real.

151 comments:

I've never seen this ad - it is OUTRAGEOUS - where is it being advertised? I know that when Dairy Queen came out with its disgusting sexualization of children tv ad - I wrote in and got a reply too; the add was pulled in short order (not due to me LOL but becuase I know a LOT of people who wrote in to complain). I would assume there is a complaint department in the Pepsi Head office.http://cr.pepsi.com/usen/pepsiusen.cfm?or=

that's an email form you could fill out.

I would complain as well but would need more information; i.;e. where are these ads posted? When did they come out? Are thye current?

I was so surprised by this that I had to trace the ad all the way back to its source, just to make sure it wasn't originally a hoax.

Sure enough, as Renee found elsewhere, this is a French ad. It was created by a French advertising agency, so I suppose the issues here are French cultural attitudes towards women, and Pepsi's willingness to go along with local culture when it's as offensive as this.

Cooper, yes, the ad campaign is apparently real. Here is a link which credits the particular ad campaign and shows a couple other (but non-offensive)ads in the series.http://commercial-archive.com/node/145960

um... i'm looking at this ad, and i don't see how the lifeguard is inviting the little boy to rape the woman. he's trading a t-shirt for a pepsi. traditional lifeguard gags will imply that the joke is that the little boy will kiss the woman while performing CPR. it's called "humor". the underage boy will get to kiss an attractive woman.

i am a feminist, but seeing this as encouraging a violent act towards women is a bit of a stretch.

To all of you who cannot see how this incites violence against women, I want you to think about why it is that women don't leave their drinks unattended when they are in a bar...they don't because they might get slipped a roofie which would make them susceptible to rape. When a woman is incapacitated the rapist then takes advantage with her. This ad is the same sort of analogy with the Pepsi can substituting for the roofie.I cannot believe that I had to explain why this ad is harmful and promotes violence.

that sort of comparison is flawed. the pepsi is not a metaphorical roofie, the woman has obviously not had any. the deal is that the lifeguard is accepting the pepsi so that the boy can wear the t-shirt so that he can kiss the woman. kissing is not the same as raping. nor is it a violent act.

I don't understand how some of the commenters here think that non-consentual contact (kid attempting to kiss unconscious woman) is not deeply wrong and offensive in any way, shape, or form. The woman is in no position to give consent or permission to anyone to touch her. If you substitute the kid for a middle-adged adult male, maybe the rape apologists here would understand how deeply troubling this advertisement is. Just because it's a kid standing over the woman doesn't make it any less offensive or wrong.

el sqidge - Even if your (rather generous) interpretation was the intended message, the ad is still problematic. In that scenario the woman is still being presented as a sexual object, something to be traded.

This image is triggering for rape survivors, whatever the thoughts behind it. I suggest you read Portly Dyke's comment at Shakesville on the impact this ad had on her.

If I kiss my wife(or girlfriend) while she is sleeping, is that sexual assualt? She never asked for it, but I just know that she wants it. How do I know? After I kiss her, she pulls closer to me and she feels loved.

Of course you have already defined it as sexual assault. I don't understand that one. Americans have went too far overboard on many things because they have lost their common sense.

I personally find the ad disgusting not because of what it is suggesting but because they are using a barely dressed woman to sell a product.

@sparky the snarling look on this kids face is hardly the same expression that one would have on their face when they were seeking to be affectionate with a loved one. Clearly this little ad is not promoting love, it is promoting sexual assault.

Brinstar and Sparky, the boy has a leering expression on his face and his eyes are pointed at the unconscious woman's breasts.

As Thewhatifgirl mentioned, the ad campaign has the theme of Pepsi allowing you do things you only dreamed about. In this case, the boy is exchanging a can of Pepsi for the lifeguard's permission to do CPR on the woman. The boy's delight seems clearly to be related to his chance to squeeze her breast(s). In this ad, the the lifeguard controls the woman's body, he gives permission - she does not.

Intense Debate Comments

About Me

I am the mother of two darling little boys that fill my life with hope. They have inspired me to help raise awareness of the issues that plague this little blue planet.
If you are looking for a blog that is all about how wonderful and rosy this world is, turn right because this space will not be for you. I am a committed humanist. I believe in the value of people over commodities. I believe in the human right to food, clothing, shelter, and education. I am pacifist, anti-racist, WOC. My truth may not be your truth, but I intend to speak it nonetheless.
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